Shaken friends mourn 'Mayor of Sunnyslope'

by Laurie Roberts - Jan. 9, 2010 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

By Tuesday afternoon, the news had ricocheted around Sunnyslope. Groups of stunned residents huddled at the scene of the tragedy and outside the Fry's on Hatcher Road, trying to convince themselves that it could possibly be true.

The mayor was dead.

If Sunnyslope had a flag, it would have been lowered to half-staff this week at the passing of Bill Schommer.

The 61-year-old resident of this north Phoenix neighborhood was struck and killed while riding his motorized scooter along 12th Street on Monday night. The coward who hit him didn't bother to stop and hasn't had the guts to come forward.

When tragedy strikes, people like me often descend on the scene, hoping to luck out and find someone who knew the victim so that we can better explain what has been lost. On Tuesday, that wasn't hard. The trick, in fact, was to find someone who didn't know Bill Schommer, or as he was called, the Mayor of Sunnyslope.

"Some people are givers, some are takers," a shaken Bob Anderson said. "Bill was a giver."

Bill was born with a mental disability and was never able to work, according to his sister, Teri Billings. But that didn't stop him from making a considerable mark on the world around him. For 41 years, he lived in Sunnyslope and for every one of them, he was intent on making life just a little easier, just little friendlier, just a little happier for those around him.

He was getting dialysis three days a week. He couldn't drive and depended on his scooter to get around because of leg problems, but none of that ever slowed him down.

Every Monday, he called bingo at a nearby nursing home and every holiday, you'd find him at a soup kitchen, offering a plate of food and a word of encouragement to those in dire need of both. Most days, you would find him stationed just inside the Fry's at Hatcher and Cave Creek roads, greeting whomever happened by.

He knew many in the neighborhood by name and more. Often, he knew not only where they lived but what was going on in their lives. If their electricity had been turned off, it was Bill who would tell them who could help. If they needed a meal, Bill would tell them where to go.

Joyce Woodard said Bill would get her groceries for her when she was suffering from panic attacks and couldn't face the ordeal of shopping.

Officer Gary Hotchkiss met him 20 years ago when he was a rookie cop on the Sunnyslope beat, and they've been friends ever since. "It's just absolutely incredible to me how he helped literally thousands of people," he said. "That's how many lives he touched."

"Irreplaceable," said Lynn Munson, the activity director at Capri at the Pointe Rehab, where Bill called bingo just a few hours before he died. "He just had such a positive outlook," she said. "When he would sit down to call bingo he would tell everybody what a wonderful day it was and when he was done he would say, 'God bless you and thank you for coming.' "

Bill left the nursing home at about 3:45 p.m. on Monday to take up his regular spot at Fry's for a few hours before heading home for the evening. He was just four houses from home when he was hit at about 9:40 p.m. Monday.

Phoenix Detective James Holmes said they located the car, a 1990 white Jeep Laredo, and its owner, thanks to a witness who got the license plate number. But nobody's been arrested. "At this point, we can't put him in the vehicle," Holmes said, adding that the investigation will continue.

As will the memory of Bill Schommer, whose mission in this world was simply to offer a little kindness to everyone he met.